Suction brush storage unit of vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

A suction brush storage unit of a vacuum cleaner has a pivotable hook which engages the suction brush with the cleaner body, and which does not suffer breakage by unexpected external impact due to resilient deformability of the pivotable hook within a predetermined angle of movement. The suction brush storage unit of a vacuum cleaner includes a cleaner body having a suction brush engaging hole; a hook holder formed on the suction brush; a pivotable hook formed on the hook holder for engagement with the suction brush engaging hole, for securing the suction brush in place; and a resilient member for resiliently supporting the hook holder and the suction brush engaging hole and for inhibiting further rotational movement beyond the predetermined angle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a vacuum cleaner, and moreparticularly, to a suction brush storage unit facilitating maintenanceof the vacuum cleaner, in which a suction brush is stowed in engagementwith the vacuum cleaner.

2. Description of the Background Art

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a vacuum cleaner mainly includes a suctionbrush 10 having a protruding hook 11 disposed at a predeterminedposition. The suction brush 10 is configured and arranged to draw inair, in which dust has been entrained, from a surface to be cleaned, bya suction force. An extension pipe 20 is attached to the brush 10 toguide the dust-laden air as it is drawn through the suction brush 10,and a cleaner body 30 having a dust bag (not shown) is attached to theother end of the extension pipe 20 to collect dust that is separatedfrom the drawn in air in a dust collector (not shown) and a motor (notshown) is used to generate suction force. Both the dust collector andthe motor are located inside the cleaner body 30. A hook opening 31 isformed on the underside of the cleaner body 30, as shown, or in a sidewall thereof (not shown).

The extension pipe 20 includes first and second extension pipe sections22 and 24 being adjustable in length through a telescopic connectiontherebetween, the pipe sections 22 and 24 being able to guide the airdrawn in through the suction brush 10. A handle 26, which is attached tothe extension pipe section 24, has a power switch on the upper side forselective manipulation of power to an on or off position, as desired,and a wind switch, also disposed on the upper side of the handle 26, foradjustment of the degree of winding. A flexible hose 28 is flexible,bendable and expandable, is disposed between the handle 26 and thecleaner body 30, to guide the air and dust discharged through the handle26. The protruding hook 11 and the hook opening 31 have shapes thatcorrespond with each other for easier engagement.

When an operator or user applies power to the cleaner body 30 by turningon the power switch on the handle 26 of the conventional vacuum cleaneras described above, the motor inside the cleaner body 30 commences torotate at high speed, thereby generating a strong suction force.Accordingly, air and entrained dust is drawn in from the surface beingcleaned into the cleaner body 30 by the suction force, then flowsthrough the suction brush 10 and the extension pipe 20 and is directedtoward the interior of the cleaner body 30, and more specifically, isdirected to the dust collector bag of the cleaner body 30, where thedust is separated from the air and is collected.

When the vacuum cleaner is not in use, the operator usually keeps thevacuum cleaner body 30 in a vertical orientation, as shown in FIG. 1, sothat the user may engage the protruding hook 11 in the hook opening 31formed in the underside of the cleaner body 30. Accordingly, the suctionbrush 10 is securely connected to the cleaner body 30 and the vacuumcleaner may be stowed with the extension pipe 20 and the flexible hose28 in an upright position.

However, the protruding hook 11 shown in the detail view of FIG. 2, andespecially a neck 12 of the protruding hook 11, is prone to breakage byinadvertent application of external force during storage, for examplewhen the vacuum cleaner collapses through carelessness of the operatorduring stowage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been developed in order to solve the abovedrawbacks and other problems associated with the arrangement inconventional vacuum cleaners. An aspect of the present inventionprovides an improved suction brush storage unit for a vacuum cleaner,which is robust so as to withstand external impact.

The above aspects and/or other features of the present invention can besubstantially achieved by providing a suction brush storage unit of avacuum cleaner, comprising: a cleaner body comprising a suction brushengaging hole; a hook holder formed on the suction brush; a pivotablehook formed on the hook holder for engagement with the suction brushengaging hole, for securing the suction brush in place; and a resilientmember for resiliently supporting and biasing the hook holder to adesired position for engagement with the suction brush engaging hole.

The pivotable hook is disposed either on the suction brush or on theextension pipe such that it is capable of pivoting when an externalforce is exerted. Accordingly, by the external force acting upon thepivotable hook, which is engaged with the suction brush engaging hole ofthe cleaner body, the pivotable hook pivots about the engagement. Thepivotable hook includes a resilient member to return the pivotable hookto a desired initial position when the external force is no longerexerted by action of the resilient member.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the hook holdercomprises hook holder arms extended to cover both opposite sides of thepivotable hook, respectively; hinge projections respectively extendedfrom the inner side of the hook holder arms towards the pivotable hook;a rotation restricting member for restraining the rotational movement ofthe pivotable hook; and a resilient member seating hole formed in therotation restricting member to receive a first end of the resilientmember.

The pivotable hook comprises a body; a hinge hole formed in the body tocorrespond with the hinge projections; a resilient member supportinghole formed approximately in the center of the body for receiving asecond end of the resilient member; and a stopper projection extendedfrom the upper side of the body such that, with the movement of thepivotable hook is restricted from pivoting beyond a predetermined degreeby contact of the pivotable hook with the stopper.

The resilient member preferably comprises a torsion spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The above aspects and features of the present invention will be mademore apparent by the description of certain embodiments of the presentinvention, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a conventional vacuum cleaner in thestowed position having a conventional suction brush storage unit;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of a protruding hook formed on theconventional suction brush shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a suction brush storage unitaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a suctionbrush storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Certain preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedin greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, the same drawing reference numerals areused for indicating similar elements in the different drawing figures.The matters defined in the description, such as the detailedconstruction and elements thereof, are only provided to assist in acomprehensive understanding of the invention. Thus, it is apparent thatthe present invention can be carried out without reliance on some ofthose defined matters or by equivalents of the structures that mayperform the described functions. Also, well-known functions orconstructions are not described in detail so as to avoid obscuring theinvention in description of such unnecessary detail.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a suction brush storage unit100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Briefly put, the suction brush storage unit 100 of the vacuum cleanerhooks the suction brush 10 (FIG. 1) to the cleaner body 30 so that thevacuum cleaner can be stowed in place with the extension pipe 20 and theflexible hose 28 in an upright orientation when not in use, as describedabove.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a connector C is provided for connectionbetween the suction brush 10 and the extension pipe 20. The connector Ccomprises a pivotable hook holder 110, to which a pivotable hook 120 ismovably engaged. The pivotable hook 120 is hinged to rotate about apivoting axis of the pivotable hook holder 110 and provides a biasingfunction by means of an intervening resilient member 130.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pivotable hook holder 110 comprises oppositelydisposed holder arms 111 protruding laterally to the longitudinal axisof connector C so as to cover both opposite sides of the pivotable hook120. A hinge projection 113 disposed in line with the pivoting axisextends from the inner side of each holder arm 111 in a directiontowards the pivotable hook 120. A rotation restricting member 115 isformed between the holder arms 113 so as to restrict rotational movementof the pivotable hook 120 beyond a predetermined degree, and a resilientmember seating hole 117 is formed in the rotation restricting member 115for receiving a first end of the resilient member 130, as shown.

The suction brush storage unit 100 will be described with reference toan example in which it is disposed on a certain part of the suctionbrush 10, more specifically, being formed on the connector C connectingthe suction brush 10 and the extension pipe 20. However, a person havingordinary skill will appreciate that the location of the suction brushstorage unit 10 can be adequately changed to a different positionbetween the suction brush 10 and the extension pipe 20 other than theone shown, as necessary.

The pivotable hook 120 is configured for fitting with the hook opening31 of the cleaner body 30 (FIG. 1), and is pivotably disposed on thepivotable hook holder 110 by engagement with the oppositely disposedhinge projections 113. The resilient member 130 is disposed between hookholder 110 and pivotable hook 120 and provides a biasing force tendingto keep these elements separated. The resilient member 130 acts toreturn the pivotable hook 120 to the initial position shown in FIG. 4 soas to recover from a force that rotates the pivotable hook 120, whenthat force is no longer exerted.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pivotable hook 120 comprises a pivotablehook body 121, hinge holes 123 formed on the pivotable hook body 121corresponding to the positions of the hinge projections 113, a resilientmember securing hole 125, formed approximately in the center of thepivotable hook body 121, to receive a second end 132 of the resilientmember 130, the first end 131 of which is received in the resilientmember seating hole 117, and a stopper projection 127 extended from oneside of the pivotable hook body 121, so as to restrict rotationalmovement of the pivotable hook 120 by contact with the rotationrestriction member 115 during the pivotal movement of the pivotable hook120. The resilient member securing hole 125 preferably comprises aseparation preventing projection 126 to prevent the end 132 of theresilient member 130 from moving out of the resilient member securinghole 125. The resilient member 130 is disposed about a seatingprojection 129, which is coaxial with the hinge holes 123.

The stopper projection 127 of the pivotable hook 120 restricts themovement of the pivotable hook 120 by surface contact with the rotationrestricting member 115 at the pivotable hook holder 110. Accordingly,the pivotable hook 120 is prevented from pivoting beyond a predetermineddegree, and popping the pivotable hook 120 out of the holder 110.

The resilient member 130 comprises a torsion spring, the end 131 ofwhich is inserted in the resilient member seating hole 117 of therotation restricting member 115, and the second end 132 fits in theresilient member securing hole 125 of the pivotable hook body 121, withthe first and the second ends 131, 132 maintained approximately at 90°relative to each other when the spring is in the rest position.

Because the pivotable hook 120 is pivotable about the hinge projections113 within a predetermined degree, the pivotable hook 120 of the suctionbrush storage unit 100 does not suffer breakage even when the vacuumcleaner collapses or is overturned during storage from its uprightposition by external impact or due to carelessness of the operatorduring stowage.

As described above in the preferred embodiments of the suction brushstorage unit of the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention,the pivotable hook 120, which hooks the suction brush to the cleanerbody, does not easily suffer breakage by unexpected impact thanks toresilient deformability of the pivotable hook 120 to a predetermineddegree.

The foregoing preferred embodiments and advantages are described asmerely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the presentinvention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types ofapparatus. Also, the description of the embodiments of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope ofthe claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon achieving a completeunderstanding of the principles of the present invention.

1. A suction brush storage unit of a vacuum cleaner, comprising: acleaner body comprising a suction brush engaging hole; a hook holderdisposed on the suction brush; a pivotable hook disposed on the hookholder for engagement with the suction brush engaging hole, for securingthe suction brush in place; and a resilient member for resilientlysupporting and biasing the hook holder to a desired position forengagement with the suction brush engaging hole, wherein the pivotablehook pivots on the hook holder when subjected to an external force, andreturns to the initial desired position when the external force ceasesby action of the resilient member.
 2. The suction brush storage unit ofclaim 1, wherein the hook holder comprises: hook holder arms extended tocover both opposite sides of the pivotable hook respectively; hingeprojections respectively extended from the inner side of the hook holderarms towards the pivotable hook; a rotation restricting member forrestraining the rotational movement of the pivotable hook; and aresilient member seating hole formed in the rotation restricting memberto receive a first end of the resilient member.
 3. The suction brushstorage unit of claim 2, wherein the pivotable hook comprises: a body; ahinge hole formed in the body corresponding with the hinge projections;a resilient member supporting hole formed approximately in the center ofthe body for receiving a second end of the resilient member; and astopper projection extended from the upper side of the body such that,rotational movement of the pivotable hook is restricted from pivotingbeyond a predetermined degree by contact of the pivotable hook with thestopper projection.
 4. The suction brush storage unit of claim 1,wherein the resilient member comprises a torsion spring.